Brian Dusablon

I’m kicking off a new series of reviews here: Three Up, Three Down.

First up is the Kingston Wi-Drive, a portable wireless hard drive for iOS devices.

Leading Off

I’ve been using Kingston’s Wi-Drive for the last month. It’s a small, lightweight wireless hard drive for use with iOS devices. The model I’ve been using is 16GB. To connect, you use the Wi-Drive app (free in the App Store). Estimated battery life is 4 hours, which I found to be accurate. It comes nicely packaged, with a nod to Cupertino.

Three Up

1. Everything about it is fast. Using the app, setting up the connection, and accessing content on the Wi-Drive is fast. After about five minutes to set up the app and connect to the drive, I was streaming Batman Begins. Once I selected the movie in the app, it was playing in less than three seconds. And scrubbing forward and back in the movie was instant. Zero delays. Very fast. It also remembered where I left off in the movie I was watching.
2. It’s light and small. It’s slightly thinner than an iPhone 4s and can easily fit in any pocket, purse or backpack for easy portability (thought I don’t recommend it for reasons outlined below).
3. You can share the connection. Up to three users can connect simultaneously, allowing up to three people to access the media on the drive wirelessly. I experienced no issues accessing the same content on multiple devices at the same time.

Three Down

1. You can only connect via WiFi. This is limiting, because you have to disconnect from your regular WiFi network to use the device. You can use the app’s wireless network function to connect the Wi-Drive to a wireless network, but it’s not perfect. For instance, I couldn’t type in a network that wasn’t broadcasting its SSID. Also, if you leave the car or hotel room, your device may not reconnect to the Wi-Drive automatically. Having to connect to its WiFi network, then open the app, then find your media every time can become rather annoying. I’d rather just have the media on my device. Finally, you can’t use iPhone tethering while you’re using the Wi-Drive.
2. It’s expensive. When I received the drive, it was priced at $129 and $179 for the 16GB and 32GB models, respectively. Currently prices have dropped to $69 and $99 on Amazon, which is much better.
3. It gets hot when it’s being used. Really hot. Scorching hot. Not good. While it’s built for portability, you can’t keep this in a pocket, a laptop bag or even resting near a piece of paper, for fear it might catch on fire or burn up the drive.

The Final Score

I can see this device being useful for someone with an 8GB iOS device, families on a road trip or a long plane ride, or possibly small teams during a business meeting. Outside of those scenarios, it’s doubtful that you’ll get much use out of a Wi-Drive, and the heat is a major concern. For the money, you’d be better off upgrading to a larger capacity device or upgrading your Dropbox account.

This release features a brand-new option to switch post editor documents into “Full-Screen” mode for more focused writing. In full-screen mode, the window is expanded to take up the entire space of the screen, and the menu bar is hidden from view.

- Red Sweater Blog

Excellent! This is a great new feature. I’ve been using WriteRoom for years to start my writings. Then I move them into MarsEdit for formatting and adding media, categories and tags before publishing to the blog. Full screen mode might just push WriteRoom out of my workflow entirely.

If you’re on a Mac, and not using MarsEdit for your blog, you should check it out.

Another reason I’ve added Saddleback Leather as one of my favorite companies.

1. They are made in America. Right here in Texas.
2. They give back to they community and the world, as shown in this video. Awesome.

Check out their YouTube channel for more. Then, go buy something awesome, that will last forever.

I’m waiting on the funds, but one of their products may be the only thing that I buy this year that’s not an iPad 2 or Macbook Air.

Prompted by Aaron, here’s my response on Quora:

I find it interesting that there are only three responses to this question. For me, I haven’t seen the value yet. So, while it’s not a distraction, it’s also not a tool/resource for me (yet).

I’ve asked a question or two on here that have had zero responses. I’ve responded to a few questions as well. Those only have a few responses, and I haven’t seen the voting play a role yet.

I’m sure it’s a lot like Twitter. Some people will use it and exploit it. Some people will find their value in it and maximize there time here. Some people will never adopt it or take a while to, then come unwillingly if it’s a hit.

The problem for me is, this is just another site I have to go to, manage my account. If I have a question, why not just post it to Twitter, where my PLN is strong and is, usually, ready to answer my questions?

Very good question. I’m curious to see how this one gets answered.

And, all that being said, I really do love a good tool, and Quora seems to be well built and is fairly well designed.

On the lighter side, check out http://www.cwora.com: “A continually spamming collection of unanswered questions created, edited and organised by no-one who uses it.”

I’ve owned the Kindle for about three weeks now. It’s still primarily an Instapaper reader for me. Mainly because I’m hesitant to buy a digital version of a book that I can’t share with others, especially when I can get a used, hard copy for cheaper than the Kindle edition in most cases. Also, I can’t use it at my library.